


Family Tradition

by daringyounggrayson



Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [1]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Batkids Age Reversal, Batman Bingo, Family, Ficlet, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:02:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26561098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daringyounggrayson/pseuds/daringyounggrayson
Summary: Going to Haly's Circus has been a family tradition since Damian was a preteen, but like anything else, traditions eventually fall out of practice.
Series: Batman Bingo 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833130
Comments: 14
Kudos: 90





	Family Tradition

**Author's Note:**

> Anon said: For the bingo, could you do reverse age with Damian, Tim and Jason? Thanks! Ages: Damian is 21, Tim is 15, Jason is 12, and Dick is 8 (but alas, my boy isn't in this ficlet)

Haly’s Circus comes to Gotham once a year, and for the past nine, Damian has gone with his father to see the performance. This will be Jason’s first show, and like Damian had been that first year, he’s not looking forward to it. Although, Damian remembers being much more passive about his distaste than Jason.

“It sounds boring,” Jason protests loudly over dinner, again. “I don’t see why we have to go.”

“You might have fun, Jay,” Father tries to persuade. 

“Doubt it.” Jason lays his head on to the table, pouting. Damian might have scoffed at the behavior once, but now, he just rolls his eyes, feeling somewhat amused by the childish act. “Why can’t I just stay home? You guys can enjoy the clowns, and I can finally read or play a video game without being distracted by _their_ ”—Jason points his thumb toward Damian and Tim—“dumb fights.”

“Don’t blame me,” Tim pipes up, dropping his fork and letting it clatter against the plate. “He’s”—Tim waves his hand at Damian, and Damian rolls his eyes again, now leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms—“the one who always starts it.”

Taking that as a cue, Damian lightly taps Tim’s knee with his foot underneath the table.

“Hey!” Tim shoots a scowl at Damian, but he’s known Tim and Tim’s scowls long enough to know that there’s no real meaning behind it.

“Yes, Timothy?” Damian asks, as if he has no idea why Tim would be accusing him of something.

Father is pinching the bridge of his nose; it’s almost comical how easy it is for the three of them to get to him. “Enough. Jason, do you really not want to go tonight?”

Jason shrugs and mumbles something Damian can’t make out.

Tim pokes Jason in the side with his elbow. “Come on, we go every year, it’s practically a family tradition.”

Something changes in Jason’s face at the mention of family; it makes Damian smile a little too. To preserve his feeling of contentment, Damian decides to bite his tongue instead of critique the ridiculous base of Tim’s argument. After all, just because something has always been done is not a sufficient argument for why it should continue; Damian tucks this point away for another time. Perhaps in an hour or so, when Tim will no doubt get on his nerves.

Father leans over the table, looking at Jason. “If you really hate it, we can leave early.”

“No!” Tim shouts. “The Flying Graysons don’t come on until the end, we can’t miss them!”

“The flying whats?” Jason asks, lifting his head off the table. Tim sputters, ready to explain who they are, but Jason is smirking. Damian knows for a fact that Jason has read the poster, seen the advertisements; he’s clearly doing this on purpose to get a rise out of Tim. Jason can be a nuisance, but since he’s not usually a nuisance to Damian, it’s amusing. Especially now, when he’s being a nuisance to Tim.

Father pinches the bridge of his nose again.

“I assure you, Master Tim, you will not miss the performance. We can take separate cars,” Alfred says, walking in with two hot mugs of tea, one for himself and one for Damian. Damian thanks him, taking it and sipping it slowly.

“It would be disappointing if you missed it, though,” Damian says to Jason, casually. “The Flying Graysons have a talent like I’ve never seen, and their son who has performed with them the last few years has acrobatic skills not even I have been able to master.”

“I heard he can do a quadruple flip now,” Tim says excitedly.

“Honestly, Timothy, stalking is such a bad habit.” Damian smirks into his tea, the death-glare on Tim’s face and the snicker from Jason only adding to his contentment.

Father pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing this time. “Please. The show starts in an hour. Are we all going together or should we take two cars?”

Jason sighs dramatically, realizing that there’s no getting out of “family time” and thinking over his options.

Damian rolls a carrot around his plate with a fork. “I’d really rather not drive.” This isn’t true; Damian has no problem driving, and even if he did, he knows Father would ignore his preference for only driving at night if he asked him to. 

In reality, Damian has come to appreciate the Haly’s Circus tradition, and the family aspect has become an inseparable part of it. Jason is family now, so he must attend. Simple logic, really.

Damian’s small comment is enough to tip Jason over: “Fine, I’ll come. We can go together.”

Father lets out a breath and they all go back to finishing their dinner in the closet this family will ever come to peace. Then they’re in the car, ready to spend the next few hours on the fairgrounds, under the big top.

Unknown to Damian, this would be the last time for a long time that they observe the family tradition of going to Haly’s Circus. Had he known it would be the last, he might have appreciated it more. Or perhaps, knowing why it would be the last, he wouldn’t have encouraged Jason to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Comment and kudos are always appreciated <3
> 
> [tumblr](https://daringyounggrayson.tumblr.com/)


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